


Weighs of the Soul

by Grain_Crain



Series: Whumptober 2019 [3]
Category: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Spooky, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-16 20:09:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21276992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grain_Crain/pseuds/Grain_Crain
Summary: Day 31 - Embrace. The fantastic four are having a nightout with some drinks. Dokkaebi tells a scary story and Echo doesn't believe herat first.





	Weighs of the Soul

**Author's Note:**

> This is a part of Whumptober challenge this year. A long fic that can be a standalone, so here we go! If you want to check out the other Whumptober fics/ficlets, you can read them from  
[here.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20891378/navigate)

Off duty means a mini holiday. Free of responsibilities and work stress. Therefore the usual four rent hotel suites in South Korea and they are somewhere between tipsy and super drunk. The only thing that keeps them awake is the fifth story told by Dokkaebi who is overly enthusiastic to share. She recounts a horror story that she heard from her senior during newbie years back in her barrack. [It’s about a hypothesis on a human soul having a physical weight,](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2F21_grams_experiment&t=M2JmOTNmNWQzOWJiYjRjNzc4NDYyM2RiZGI3M2I5MDQ0MTI0NGE3Ziw2MjN2SU5OTQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AGd2fRO0qMwygFT0hlvtLkQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fgrain-crain-drain.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F188741619433%2Fday-31-embrace&m=0) which is supposed to be 21 grams. Therefore by that logic, a ghost should weigh the same.**  
**

“Now here’s the story,” Dokkaebi takes in a shot of tequila in one go, “There’s this guy, right? He had to work until late like past midnight. Don’t act surprised! That’s how it is in corporate world. So he practically slept his way back home, all tired and stuff. But you know, when you walk into an apartment building there should be a light for people to see! Did that guy care? No, man. He was too tired to care. He probably thought that those bulbs are too old. The only light he saw was the elevator screen up the top and the button to open it.”

“Get to the point.” Echo nudges Dokkaebi by pushing her knee with his feet.

“Don’t be rude!” Hibana gives Echo a horse bite. 

“Hey, fuck you. So when he got on the elevator, he swore that he’s alone in there. No one came in. But as soon as he closed his eyes, the speaker beeped like crazy. He checked the monitor and it said there are too many people in the elevator. Crazy!" 

"Yeah.” Vigil isn’t as immersed because he had heard the same spiel for quite some time, but he supports regardless by showing a feeble reaction. While sipping on one can of beer, his attention is sorely focused on his red-faced boyfriend who’s already had copious amounts of soju.

“Oh my god, that’s so weird!” Hibana, on the other hand, has her eyes nearly pop out. She would be munching on popcorn if they had bought one from the mart earlier.

“I know! So that elevator can hold about 1000kg. Which means that in that story, there was about more than 45,000 ghosts in the elevator. Can you imagine seeing that many ghastly faces on the elevator mirror? All of them staring at you? Now that’s spooky.” Dokkaebi finishes with another shot of tequila in triumph. She gloats at the sight of Hibana clenching in profound horror, which also brings out a little grin from Vigil. However, her mood dampens when Echo stares back in cocked eyebrow.

“That’s so childish. Inaccurate, even. I guess you did 1000kg minus 70kg for the guy, and then divide that amount by 21g, which should be somewhere roughly 44,000 ghosts if you want to be less of an embarrassing storyteller." 

"Okay Einstein, that’s the exact amount that will add up to 1000kg. 21g is an average weight of a soul, but not every soul is going to weigh the same, you know? There should be a plus and minus of at least a gram. Let’s just say whichever college you went didn’t teach you the margin of error. Would that make you feel a little bit better about yourself?” Dokkaebi snarls and Echo glares right back. They grab empty plastic bottles for a smackdown, which prompts Vigil to shuffle back to let them do as they will. However, Hibana stands between the two shoots a nervous glance at the clock on the wall. No one will forgive them for causing a loud commotion at 2am. It’ll be more than embarrassing if a hotel staff ask them to leave and never come back.

“How about you go out and buy some more snacks for us? Or even a pack of whatever you like to drink.” She pulls out a couple of notes and hands them over to Dokkaebi. Vigil catches the drift and helps by pushing Echo out of the room.

“What, just me and this stupidhead?” Dokkaebi protests while she’s also being urged.

“Baby, please. You guys are getting too heated for this. Go and talk it out, okay?” Hibana plants a kiss on Dokkaebi and that softens the tension a little. Echo looks back at Vigil, expecting a similar sentiment but the Korean man only wipes off a trace of potato chips on Echo’s face, then closes the door on them.

Hence they comply and walk out of the hotel, arguing and exchanging heartfelt middle finger gestures on their way to the mart. Hostility stops when they face the clerk to pay two dozen packs of banana milk, but they resume the bicker as they return and wait on the elevator to come down. 

“Why are you such a bitch tonight? I don’t get it.” Dokkaebi pops a straw down on one of the packets.

“Maybe because you’re one.” Echo avoids meeting her eyes as he leans against a wall.

“Masaru, I’m serious.” Her tone drops and so does Echo’s head. 

“Hm.” He ignores her. There’s a ding and yellow light shines down on them, indicating that the elevator will opening within a second. 

“Come on. Tell me what’s up.” Dokkaebi asks as they enter.

“I don’t have to tell you anything,” Echo presses the button, “Let’s just drop this.”

“Wow. Okay, then.” There’s a surge that wells up in her throat, ready to spew profanity and hurtful remarks that’ll drag this fight longer than they’re comfortable. Perhaps it’s wise to not push the subject before it gets ugly again.

“Yeah.” Echo lets out a small scoff and starts to browse on his phone, succumbing into his own awkwardness. 

It’s always like this. The four of them usually stick together but at times there are sparks of competitiveness from Echo and Dokkaebi. Although the tension has been friendly between them, some conflicts are harder to overlook and negativities eventually snowball into a big mess. An eyesore that’s obnoxiously apparent to ignore. Their lovers always clean up the aftermath, so tonight may ending being one of those nights. 

They take the furthest corner apart from each other and remain silent. Then Dokkaebi breaks the ice by squinting at the screen above them, “Hey, didn’t you press the button to level seven?”

“Yeah, I did. Why?” Echo also checks on whatever Dokkaebi is looking at. Apparently they are still on the third floor and the number hasn’t changed ever since. The two stay silent to detect any abnormality and realise it shouldn’t be so quiet around here. The typical tune, moving gears, or even the queasy movement due to being lifted up. There’s nothing of the sort as if the whole box is stationary in the middle of nowhere.

“What is this?” Dokkaebi presses the number 7 again and that changes nothing, “What an irony. It’d be funny if-” She stops herself in middle of reiterating the scare tale, so she is thoroughly shaken when the speaker screeches a deafening beep. The red warning light flashes and shines the letters that they dread to see. ‘WARNING. OVERLOAD.’

“Eun Hye, I swear to God. If this is one of your elaborate pranks, you better stop now.” Anxiety takes over his composure.

“Do you think I can override a programme on spot?” She isn’t some badly represented hacker from shitty Hollywood movies. In no way she’s faking her reaction in a situation that’s uncannily eerie and too creepy to be true. Thank heavens there aren’t any mirror in this elevator. But if there was one, they would be smashing it down for 'safety measures.’

“Yeah, with all those weird shit you pull off with our phones,” Echo’s raises his voice again, “I think you are doing this to make me talk.”

“Ha, sure. Like I want to know your stupid reasons to get angry at me.” Dokkaebi curls her hands into fists, but the elevator doesn’t give her a chance to swing a hit on Echo. A sudden jerking motion has her gripping onto a railing; knuckles turn white as her body floats slightly. Holy shit, they are falling down! The screen was showing number 2, and then quickly changes to G for ground floor.

“Fuck this. I’m going to pry this door open.” Echo wedges his fingers in the slit and that prompts the elevator to bump down further. 

Dokkaebi stutters when her skin prickles at the sudden drop of temperature, “B? I didn’t know this hotel’s got a basement level.”

“Stop acting stupid. You’re making this up.” Echo watches a visible steam coming out of his mouth. He checks the phone for a reception and curses in his native tongue. There’s not even a signal for Wi-Fi.

“Can you stop painting me like some sort of devil? Why do you always blame me when things go down south? What did I ever do to you?”

“Nothing.” That convinces no one in this closed off space.

“And you dare call me acting stupid. You’re the one who’s lying,” Dokkaebi smashes the yellow bell button for help and it brings no response, “I get it. You just hate me because all the attention on me, not you..” They descend to B2.

“With stories that a grade schooler would blabber. As if I’m jealous with that.” It’s B3 and Echo is saying more than what he prefers to hide.

“You ARE jealous! Then what the fuck are you doing, getting angry at me? You can tell us your shenanigans rather than looking into your phone all the time." 

"BECAUSE I’VE GOT NOTHING FUN TO SAY!” Echo explodes and hammers his phone down, shattering the poor thing, “You just do it so easy and make him laugh while I just can’t do that.”

“That’s not a reason to be a snarky dick!” Dokkaebi screams back, “Don’t bring your relationship problem into our double date. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I don’t know. I wish I knew,” Echo slumps down and tries to pick up the parts that’s still salvageable, but throws them away again in child-like tantrum. He rubs on the flushed face that’s drenched with alcohol and melancholic shame, “I usually know what to do and without having to ask, but this time I really don’t know. I don’t know what to do with this whole relationship business, damn it.” There’s a faint sniffle.

“Are you crying?” Dokkaebi kneels next to the man and tries to prop his head up by pulling on the messy bird nest.

“No, I sneezed.” Echo slaps her hands away. 

“Hey, now. You know what Chul Kyung is like,” Dokkaebi wraps her arm around his back, “That robot of a guy. He has a hard time connecting with other people because of the way he is.”

“Well I know a lot about robotics.”

“That’s not what I mean, you dunce. How drunk are you?” Dokkaebi looks up and they are back up on B2, “But I gotta tell you that he seem more relaxed whenever you’re around.”

“Doesn’t seem like it.” Echo shifts to check the screen and it shows B1.

“Hell yeah. He really enjoys your company. You guys are doing fine,” She pats on his back, “I just act all perky and stuff to match up with Yumiko.” Seems like gloominess is contagious at this point. 

“Match up?” Echo asks, dumbfounded.

“Yeah. Unlike you guys, you know I cheated my way into this team. It’s not all that honest and sometimes it gets me down. Funny how Yumiko finds me fascinating, so I just ramble to impress her.”

“What?” Echo finally looks back, mouth agape. He holds a breath and swallows dryly, “Come on. I bet you’re saying that to make me feel good." 

“I wish I was,” Dokkaebi wipes off stinging tears, “And what you were doing tonight really hurt me.” They feel a shift, a gentle pressure that brings their weight down as the elevator rises. 

After a long pause, Echo clears his throat and finally faces her, “Can’t believe I’ve been the one acting like a grade schooler. I guess I shouldn’t have drunk all those three bottles of soju, huh.”

“Damn right, you idiot.” Dokkaebi chuckles to lighten up the mood.

He hesitates, but proceeds to place a pat on her shoulder, “It might sound like some sort of an excuse, but I really didn’t know I was stepping over the line.”

“No shit.”

“I’m sorry. You had no reason to feel incompetent and yet I made you feel that way.”

Perhaps it’s about time for Dokkaebi and Echo to hunker down and untangle the knots that’s been building up between them. She accepts the apology, which is far better than what she expected out of him. "I guess I got too heated up. How about you tell us a story next time? It can be about whatever and I’ll poke Chul Kyung to say something more than just a dumb ‘yeah.’”

“That sounds harder than getting into the Rainbow Six.” Echo’s joke earns a smack on his back, making his cough but laugh at the same time. They don’t realise that the elevator has reached back at the seventh level and when the door slides open, Vigil and Hibana are standing on the other side with their faces pale and full of worry.

“Where have you guys been?” Hibana barely controls her volume, “It’s been three hours since you left!”

“What? That can’t be. We’ve been stuck in this elevator for only about half an hour, tops.” Dokkaebi checks her smartwatch and indeed it’s well past 5am. 

Echo notices the hardened expression on Vigil, “Chul Kyung, you look sick-” He’s interrupted in the middle of a sentence when Vigil lunges forward for an embrace that resembles more of a clinging grasp. 

“Did you guys get lost or something?” Hibana whispers as they tip toe back to their shared room.

“You could say that. Maybe we were too drunk, but we’ll tell you tomorrow. It’s best to talk about it when we’re all sober.” And that concludes the frightening occurrence. The bewitching hour gave them treats rather than tricks. It was reconciliation of a kind. Dokkaebi and Echo may choose to remember or forget, but the heartfelt conversation will remind them to be nicer to each other. Or they might end up spewing more childish banter. Who knows? That’s the bond they share and trust they build. A friendship that’s sweeter than sour rough patches.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this way back before Halloween, some time around September. Inspired by a scary stories and how much soul weighs and stuff. Thank goodness I saved it up somewhere and bothered to write 90% of it back then.


End file.
